What does X-match mean

+5 votes
1.9k views
I have just noticed that a couple of my matches on FTDNA have been marked X-Match . Could somebody explain what this means.

Thanks

Chris
in The Tree House by Chris Colwell G2G6 Mach 2 (24.4k points)
Lucky you!!!  Your list of X-chromosome ancestors is on this page:

https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Colwell-593/89

Your X-matches will connect to one of your X-Chromosome ancestors.

1 Answer

+7 votes
Males get all of their X chromosome from the mother so an X match means that person is related on the mother's side. It helps narrow the search down when you can eliminate all of your paternal lines from the equation.
by Living McCormick G2G6 Mach 5 (59.5k points)
I dunno about that. I have an X-match with someone who is clearly on my father's side. I do have some x-matches on my mother's side, though. I put both of their dna on ftdna with my own.
Men cannot inherit the X-chromosome from their fathers - unless we're talking about extremely rare genetic aberrations.
True. But, like I said on FTDNA I have an X-Match with someone who is on my father's side. Dunno what to tell ya.
It's possible that your known match on your father's side could also be related to you through a (currently unknown) ancestor in one of your mother's X-inheritance lines.
Hmm. That is extremely doubtful. But, who knows? She doesn't show up as a match with my mother on Ancestry or the other sites. Not even gedmatch.
If she's not a match for your mother, then prob not. Tho if she only matched your mother on the X chr, I believe that some testing companies (not sure about GEDmatch) won't identify that as a match.

But I have encountered a cousin (not DNA-tested) that was related to me via paper trail through one line on my father's side and another line on my mother's side.
That's weird, Rick. Of course, like me she is part Italian and the other half is English. My mother has French-Canadian and English roots going up to colonial NH and Mass. I wonder if that's what FTDNA is picking up on. One small problem. My grandfather on her side is French-Canadian on both sides.
Hi Chris,  Your X-Chromosome ancestors are listed on this page:

https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Ferraiolo-2/89
Thanks, Kitty! =D
Thanks for the answer Bill

Have taken a look at the 3 X-Matches in the chromosome browser and found that they are only 2.25, 2.16 and 1.34 cms. Normally these would be ignored because they are so small . Does the same apply for X chromosome as it does for the other chromosomes.
I'm certainly not an expert so take what I say with a grain of salt. As I understand it, the X DNA remains intact for a much greater length of time so a small X-match may be from too far back to trace. I use X-matches simply as a means of eliminating lines and evaluate the concurrent autosomal match the same as for non-X-matches except that, as a male, I know that the match is from one of the maternal lines.

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